


Be Mine, Butterfly?

by MyriahKamm



Category: Free!
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Winter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-10
Updated: 2015-01-10
Packaged: 2018-03-07 01:07:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 672
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3155123
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MyriahKamm/pseuds/MyriahKamm
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>"How much farther is it?" Rei grumbles. "If it is much farther, I have a mind to turn right around and go back home. You did use deceitful means to get me out here, after all.”</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>"It’s not much farther, sheesh." Rin holds Rei’s hand tighter, taking him toward a clearing.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>When they finally come to it, Rei stops dead in his tracks, and Rin releases his hand......</i>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	Be Mine, Butterfly?

**Author's Note:**

> Takes place during the winter between season 1 and season 2.   
> Written for RinRei Week 2!  
> Day 3 Prompt: Winter

"I fail to see how this is at all related to swimming, Rin-san," Rei mutters as Rin half-drags him through the snow.

"Ah, I just said I was taking you to train to get you out of your apartment," the shark says matter-of-factly. "And before you get mad at me, you really need to learn to have a little fun now and then. I thought, with Nagisa as your best friend, you’d have learned that by now."

"Hmph. Nagisa-kun needs to learn to be more serious," Rei responds in defeat.

Rin won’t say it aloud, but he has ulterior motives for dragging the  _megane_  out here. He was out here earlier and made something for Rei in the snow. He’s always been really good at making snowmen, ever since he was a kid, and he’s put that skill to good use today. His only hope is that Rei will actually appreciate, or at least respond favorably to, his efforts.

"How much farther is it?" Rei grumbles. "If it is much farther, I have a mind to turn right around and go back home. You  _did_  use deceitful means to get me out here, after all.”

"It’s not much farther, sheesh." Rin holds Rei’s hand tighter, taking him toward a clearing.

When they finally come to it, Rei stops dead in his tracks, and Rin releases his hand. The megane stares in awe at what he sees before him. Rin grins a bit to behold his own handiwork. In the center of the clearing are two snowmen, but not the typical snowmen people usually build. They’re more like snow sculptures, the redhead supposes, arranged in similarly atypical scene: a shark breaking the surface of the water, with a butterfly perched atop its nose. At the base of the sculpture is written a question: Be mine, Butterfly?

Silence fills the air. Rei just keeps staring, and Rin can’t decide if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. He just keeps staring, his cheeks growing rosy. Is that from the cold, or is he blushing?

"I know it’s not quite Valentine’s Day," Rin says, trying to break the pressing silence around them, "but I figure we’ll both be pretty busy around then anyway. What with school and training, we’re likely to be busy. So I figure this is as good a time as any to…make a confession."

Violet eyes turn away from the snow sculptures to look at Rin. Now, Rei stares at him, his eyes widening slowly. Tears fill his eyes and begin rolling down his cheeks to fall into the red scarf around his neck; his glasses begin to fog. Rin doesn’t know what to think. Normally  _he’s_  the one crying. He takes a step toward Rei and reaches up to wipe away his tears.

"H-hey, don’t do that," he says, an uneasy chuckle escaping him. "It’s too cold out here for you to be crying. You’re going to catch a cold or something."

Rei sniffles a bit, taking off his glasses and wiping his eyes on the back of his coat sleeve. “Rin-san…do you really mean it?”

"What, this?" The redhead gestures at the snow sculptures. "You bet I do. I didn’t go to all this trouble for nothing."

"It…it is beautiful, Rin-san. And my answer is yes."

A toothy grin spreads across Rin’s face. He throws his arms around Rei, sending both of them crashing into the nearest snowbank as they embrace. Joyous laughter erupts from both of them, and their lips meet briefly yet often for the next few minutes. By the time they’ve finished kissing, and by the time Rei has fished his glasses out of the snow, Rin insists they take a picture of the both of them by the sculptures. Before they do, he adds another message after the original question:

_He said yes!_

Rin kisses Rei as they take the picture. That’s one to save for their wedding day, he decides. Although that might be getting a little bit ahead of himself.


End file.
